Bloodlines Stage 6
The Castle Proserpina is the sixth and final stage in Castlevania: Bloodlines. It takes place in England. __TOC__ Overview Our journey is coming to an end... and so is the final hour for Countess Elizabeth. The level starts with our heroes stepping on a long bridge high above the ground at nighttime, with a majestic red-blood moon rising over the British countryside and furious winds carrying away the pitch-black clouds that cover the mountains over the horizon. A few Ravens perched on the bridge bid our heroes welcome. They are quickly replaced by Flame Medusa Heads that quickly swoop into the scene and spew fast-traveling fireballs, which fortunately can be destroyed by striking them in midair. Once passing through these first hindrances and finally approaching what appears to be solid ground, the last section of the bridge suddenly blows up and falls down the abyss below, leaving our heroes with no hopes of turning back and with no other option than to finish what they started once and for all. Inside the castle, the overall layout is very similar to that of the first level, this time adorned with statues of Virgin Mary shedding tears of blood. The castle's magical influence takes a prominent effect in this hallway by distorting the very fabric of reality and displacing the upper and lower sections back in time, effectively making its traversing quite a disorienting task, especially in those parts where the player must jump over bottomless pits while being harassed by an endless horde of Medusa's Heads. The next room is not less affected by the cursed castle, and the whole layout gives the "palpable illusion" of being upside-down. The controls are affected in a relative manner too, forcing the player to adjust their mind to this unconventional environment. A couple of Axe Knights will do battle in this hallway, while Fuzz Busters dominate the whole area, which mostly consists of small platforms suspended over a large bottomless chasm. Next, there's a rather long hallway that at first sight appears to be devoid of any danger. That idea is soon scratched, though, as the sound of metallic footsteps quickly announce the presence of the next enemy, one which the player will immediately recognize as the boss from the first stage. However, this is just a much less powerful variant called the Sprinting Mecha Knight. They appear in endless numbers, and what they lack in power, they make up in speed. As their name implies, they sprint from either side of the screen in an attempt to run over our heroes. A single strike is all it takes to put them down, though, making their management mostly a matter of reflexes rather than of strategy. Death Here we are once again, at the iconic large staircase that will surely lead us to the vampires' chambers. The first chamber explored is dark blue in color, with a small flight of stairs leading out to a possible balcony. The big, white full moon suddenly changes to a red-blood tone and an ominous, yet familiar, figure makes its appearance: Death. This boss fight, unlike previous ones, is affected by fate in a literal sense, and our sinister host immediately proceeds to draw out the cards that will dictate our destiny. Six cards are initially drawn, three of which will take us to face lesser versions of former bosses we have prevailed on throughout our journey: #'Card I': This card appears twice on Easy mode, once on Normal mode and absent on Expert. If struck, a myriad of Mutton Chops will rain down on the room, ensuring our hero's complete health restoration. #'Card II': Portrays the image of a golden cup spilling water. It takes us to fight the Card Golem, a much less resilient variant of the Golem we fought in the Atlantis Shrine. #'Card III': Takes us back to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to do battle with the Card Gargoyle, a weaker variant of the Gargoyle that can be taken down in just a few strikes. #'Card IV': Has the picture of a giant gear set on fire. It takes us to fight the Card Gear Steamer, a lesser variant of the same Gear Steamer we defeated in Germany. #'Card V': Features an image of Death himself. Appears once on Easy mode, twice on Normal mode and thrice on Expert, and hitting any of them will make Death to conjure a fireball with his scythe and shoot it at great speed at the hero's location. Once all cards of fate have been turned, Death will properly enter the battlefield and the main boss fight will commence. He hovers high in the air while summoning little sickles that are launched down at the hero's location at great speed. He will then proceed to descend to ground level and make a fast swoop across the room while swiping with his scythe. And lastly, he will perform a variant of an attack first seen in Super Castlevania IV where he remains on one edge of the screen and sends his scythe swirling forth in a boomerang-like manner while unearthly winds pull the hero toward him. As the last strike is unleashed on Death, he writhes in agony while infernal blue flames consume him and take him away from this plane of existence. Elizabeth Bartley Moving onward, we reach a luxurious chamber decorated pink in color with two statues that give the appearance to be guarding the object that lies between them: a vampire's casket. A familiar figure dares to show her face at last: Countess Elizabeth Bartley. Before even giving our heroes an opportunity to do something, she immediately adopts a rather gruesome form which contrasts immensely with her eternal youthful beauty: Medusa. Medusa attacks by spewing two fireballs that undulate across the screen, one high and one low. The hero must position himself amongst the safe spots left by their trajectories. She will also breathe a stream of flames that will initiate from above and then descend near to the bottom of the screen. Crouch to avoid taking damage. Next, she will slither her serpent-like lower body and lash it in a whip-like manner all across the chamber's floor. Perform a well-timed jump in order to avoid it. Between all of her main attacks, she will slowly move forward, performing short lunges whilst swiping with her claws. Once this form is defeated and realizing the fact that she's now completely cornered, Elizabeth will be left with no other option than to finally face the heroes by herself. Her boss fight is rater unconventional, though, as she will start by teleporting over her casket and summon a number of elemental orbs that will start circling on the room, proceeding next to teleport to either side of the room that's farther from the hero's current position and then command one of them to transform into an attack themed after the element it portrays, whether it is magic, fire, lightning, or an incredibly fast dagger that will be launched at the hero and which stands for physical damage. To defeat her, remain near the middle of the screen and hit her as soon as she materializes, obliging her with this to teleport to the other side of the chamber. Each time she's hit will make one of the circling orbs to disappear and her health bar to deplete a little. Keep doing this until all orbs are gone, at which point Elizabeth will teleport back to the center of her lair and conjure a larger amount of orbs. Once her health bar is completely depleted, the vampiress will finally succumb, with hellspawn flames engulfing her as she pathetically makes one final attempt to return to the safety of her casket and letting out one last sorrowful scream in agony whilst her body explodes into a mass of blood that splatters all over her lair, leaving behind only her lavish garments slowly floating down as the sole testimony of she ever existing. Silence now reigns everywhere, but there's still one more task to be taken care of before we can leave this foul place... Dracula Moving onward, we are greeted by the "Theme of Simon", and a couple of final corridors and a staircase finally takes us to one last chamber suspended high in the sky that rules above the whole castle. A solitary coffin surrounded by red curtains and macabre ornaments lies at the center of the room. Lightning strikes outside and a magical beam of light suddenly comes out from the sky and destroys it, letting out a flock of bats which then proceed to gather together and transform into the dark lord himself: Count Dracula! Dracula attacks in a similar fashion as he has in previous titles, by teleporting to random spots along the room and unleashing a variant of Hellfire. As usual, only his head can be damaged during this phase. Once his health bar has been depleted, he will stand over his coffin's remains and commence to gather unearthly powers, adopting the form of that wicked witch that started it all: Drolta Tzuentes. The sky starts emanating a bloody-red glow. Drolta flies all across the chamber at great speed, keeping away from the hero's reach, eventually making a stop to conjure a couple of fireballs with the aid of her scepter, each of which going to one end of the screen and then launching themselves at great speed in the opposite direction. Defeated at least, Drolta hovers back to the coffin and summons even more energy, this time making the whole lair to be warped into an alternate realm, with Dracula transforming into his true, final form: a gigantic blue demon! The fiend boasts bat-like wings and a ghastly mouth filled with pointy sharp teeth emerges from his gut, from which he launches swirling fangs that will explode into a column of flames on contact. He also makes long swoops across the screen. Each time he's struck, his very being gets a bit distorted in this unstable environment, turning into a devilish red tone the more damage he sustains and acquiring new offensive abilities along with his body's degradation. In this form, he will often hover on one side of the screen and unleash a long stream of flames that will travel across the floor in an elliptical manner. On his third and final form, Dracula's skin will turn into a dry and lifeless pale tone and start performing big leaps across the screen while vomiting a myriad of bones from the giant mouth. Each time he's struck in this form, parts of his body will actually start coming down, exposing his skeletal insides until the beast finally succumbs, letting out a demonic scream of infernal pain and finally disappearing from existence. Our heroes are transported back to the castle whilst the morning sun finally vanquishes the horrible night... Enemy Data Trivia *The castle takes its name from a Roman goddess, Proserpina, the Queen of the Underworld, wife of the god Pluto and the Latin counterpart of the Greek goddess Persephone. *According to the Japanese and European instruction booklets, the castle is located in Whitby. While there was never a Castle Proserpina in Whitby, there does exist Sneaton Castle, which was originally used as the manor of a sugar plantation, currently in use as a conference center and hotel. **In addition, Whitby is also the city where Dracula arrives in Bram Stoker's novel. Category:Alternate Realms Category:Bridges Category:Castle Entrances Category:Castle Keeps Category:Throne Rooms Category:Bloodlines Locations